385: Growth under Pressure: Polyploidy Induced by Stress

Sarabia Olivera L et al., PNAS - A perspective that surveys how diverse stresses trigger whole‑genome doubling (polyploidy) across fungi, plants, and animals, outlines common cell‑cycle mechanisms that produce polyploid cells, and evaluates the beneficial and detrimental consequences for genomes, cells, tissues, and applied contexts. Key terms: polyploidy, endocycles, oxidative stress, genome instability, regeneration.

Study Highlights:
The authors review evidence that many stresses — including temperature extremes, pharmacological agents, genotoxic insults, nutrient changes, infection, cell loss, and ROS — promote polyploidy across fungi, plants, and animals. Mechanistically, these stresses commonly act by perturbing the mitotic cell cycle via mitotic bypass, endoreplication, or failed cytokinesis. Polyploidy can enable tissue regeneration and buffer genomes but also increases genome instability, aneuploidy, and altered tissue function. Determining when polyploidy is adaptive versus harmful is presented as a key research priority for medicine and agriculture.

Conclusion:
Stress commonly induces polyploidy through conserved cell‑cycle alterations; its effects are context dependent, offering short‑term resilience or regeneration but often promoting genomic instability and long‑term functional costs, motivating cross‑discipline studies to understand mechanisms and applications.

Music:
Enjoy the music based on this article at the end of the episode.

Article title:
Growth under pressure: The pros and cons of polyploidy induced by stress

First author:
Sarabia Olivera L

Journal:
PNAS

DOI:
10.1073/pnas.2522063123

Reference:
Sarabia Olivera L, Belato PB, Silva J, Selmecki A, Fox DT, Roeder AHK. Growth under pressure: The pros and cons of polyploidy induced by stress. PNAS. 2026;123(22):e2522063123. doi:10.1073/pnas.2522063123

License:
This episode is based on an open-access article published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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QC:
This episode was checked against the original article PDF and publication metadata for the episode release published on 2026-06-04.

QC Scope:
- article metadata and core scientific claims from the narration
- excludes analogies, intro/outro, and music
- transcript coverage: Audited the transcript sections describing (1) diverse stress triggers and cell-cycle bypass mechanisms leading to polyploidy, (2) ROS as a unifying stress signal, (3) consequences at genome, cellular, and tissue levels, and (4) implications for therapy and agriculture; compared with the canonical article.
- transcript topics: Stress-induced polyploidy triggers; Mitotic bypass and cytokinesis failure; ROS signaling and DNA damage response; Genomic instability and aneuploidy; Tissue regeneration vs senescence; Clinical and agricultural implications

QC Summary:
- factual score: 10/10
- metadata score: 10/10
- supported core claims: 6
- claims flagged for review: 0
- metadata checks passed: 4
- metadata issues found: 0

Metadata Audited:
- article_doi
- article_title
- article_journal
- license

Factual Items Audited:
- Transcript describes diverse stresses triggering polyploidy (temperature, pharmacological, genotoxic, nutrient, infection, tissue loss).
- ROS accumulation is presented as a universal master switch driving polyploidy.
- Polyploi...